that about answers my question.....

the only think that bothers me about sticking with 9.1 though is how to update it to run the latest versions of Evolution and stuff. but thats a separate problem....

- perry

10.0 is the most stable out of 9.2, 9.1, 9.0, 8.2

Using mdk since...long ago, now running 9.1 at home for a year...ROCK SOLID!!
also, i've tried 9.2 and 10.0 but they haven't convinced me yet, i'll wait for 10.1 (maybe then i'd feel the need for upgrade )

9.0 was almost perfect for me. i got boot time all the way down to 20 seconds, from lilo screen to enlightenment, and this was with all the services i need turned on and no kernel recompilation. 9.0 was my favorite. it just got a little out of date, as i bought a new laptop and i needed something better.

sounds like a new poll question (for the curious)

- perry

I voted slackware.. but I will probably buy mandrake 10 for my laptop

I voted for 10.0. Slackware is far better but this is the Mandrake section. I have a bunch of how-to's on my site that I am Redoing for 10.0. I have been running 10.0 since beta and it has come along way. I think its going to be very usable.

I can't comment on 10 just yet (based on much of what I've read here, I'm personally waiting for at least a .2 relsase); but reading what others have had to say in this poll, it's interesting how different individual experiences can be.

I started with 8.2 Standard (my first Linux, marked for clearance at CompUSA for $4.88) and loved it. It took me three tries to get it properly installed (my fault, not Mandrake's); but once running, it proved to be rock-solid on my machine. 9.1 Download, on the other hand, gave me nightmares. Almost like Windows flashbacks. My wife ordered me 9.2 PowerPack last Xmas, and it has been absolutely fantastic on my home and work machines. I ran into the vanishing-menu bug mentioned earlier in this thread, but the open-MenuDrake-and-save trick fixed it, and it never happened to me again. Apart from that, any trouble I've had with 9.2 has been almost completely self-inflicted.

Though I'm still trying to get scsi emulation working for my DVD-ROM drive.

whats interesting is that when i tried 9.2, thats exactly what happened to me, the menus one day, started to dissappear on me. it was quite depressing.

ironically, it was trying to find a solution for it that allowed me to discover this site...

- perry

What's interesting is that when I tried 9.2, barely anything worked. I had no sound, no internet, and my ATI drivers didn't work.

I'm using 9.1 and it's PERFECT! I'm really scared to upgrade to 10.0

I've never experienced windoze-type instability in any linux distro I've tried.

On installing a new version of mandrake it is important every day to go to mandrake update to pick up the bugfixes and other updates (only for the first week or two - keep an eye on this site for reported bugs). Just like windows update but everything is fixed really promptly

Mandrake just gets better every version.

LOL-- when I said "Windows flashbacks", I meant more along the lines of frustration than instability. 9.1 didn't install well, a lot of things didn't work once installed, and things that worked fine one day would sometimes be broken the next. It wasn't an all-the-time thing; overall, Mdk 9.1 was FAR better than the Windows ME installation I'd left behind. My biggest issue under 9.1 was that LILO ate my partition table one day (though I can hardly blame Mdk 9.1 for that), and the only fix my newbishness would allow was a total reinstall of both Mandrake and Windows.

I know better today-- I use GRUB, I kicked the Windows habit altogether, and I keep a SLAX live-CD handy at all times.

I've used Mandrake since 7.0. For their time 7.0 was rock solid. 8.0 was ok but 8.2 was great. then 9.1 was good but I couldn't stand how they muted sound by default. But 7.1, 7.2 and 8.1 sucked big time. Didn't try 9.2 since I've been Debian exclusively since Woody came out. Going to try 10ce this week on the backup machine when it gets here this week. Hope the choice of packages improves with 10 over 9.1. I'm spoiled by Debian's plethora of packages, included and third party.

my sentiments exactly man!

i'm in the exact same boat! started with 9.0, jumped to 9.2 and then retreated to 9.1 so i can vouche for each....

- perry

i wonder...

does anyone here know anything about fsck...? is it safe to run on a ext3 and could it correct a size descrepancy there ?

thanks

- perry